Let me start by saying that my favorite tire for my R1250GS is (was) the Continental TKC-80! Unfortunately, Continental no longer makes that tire. They tell me that they are coming out with a replacement but for now, a set of TKC-80s are hard, if not impossible to find.
Since my TKCs are no longer an option, I’ve been running Anakee Wildes by Michelin (a radial tire for ADV bikes). The Wildes are a descent replacement for the TKC-80s. They are a pretty aggressive knobby tire and anyone using them knows that they are loud on the pavement between about 40 – 55 MPH. The noise never really bothered me and they hook-up pretty well in the dirt. Side note – running Anakee Wildes at OEM pressures (36/42) makes them squirley as heck on the pavement. I run them at 25/25 and that makes them feel much better in twisties.
But this is a review of the Heidenau Rangers so here we go:
I have about 800 miles on them so I can’t speak to their longevity. That said, how long my tires last is never a consideration for me. I usually get about 2,500 miles out of a rear tire and about twice that (5,000 miles) out of a front tire. I just see it as the cost of admission really. I’m much more focused on how the tires perform over longevity considerations.
I recently did a 2-day intermediate class at RawHyde Adventures and then did our Base Camp Alpha tour in the Mojave – all with my new Heidenau Rangers – and I fell in love! Here’s my 2 cents:
Pavement – These tires really shined on twisty, paved, roads! They have this extra bit of rubber between each of the knobs on the outside lines of the tires. Those are meant to stabilize the tires when leaning the bike in turns – and they work! These tires felt more planted than any other tire I’ve tried, including my beloved TCKs. They may as well have been street tires. I had all the confidence in the world to lean my GS into the twisties and my bike felt stuck to the pavement on every turn.
Hard-Pack – No issues here either. The aggressive design of the knobs hooked-up just fine on hard pack. I noticed that I could break loose the rear tire a bit easier than either the TKCs or the Wilds, and that was a little surprising. Not bad, just interesting. They did fine while climbing and descending hills and gave me no issues in skid-turns and/or power slides.
Deep sand and gravel – Here’s where things got a little dicey. It’s hard to explain but while climbing Mesquite Cyn (with some pretty deep gravel and sandy spots) I noticed that my bike was dancing around a bit more than I would have expected given the aggressive design of the knobs on these tires. I have to say that the Anakee Wildes feel more stable to me in this type of terrain. That said, I was able to make it through and to the top of Burrow Schmidt tunnel without incident. So, they didn’t do a bad job, but there was a noticeable difference in terms of stability. I’m thinking it may be because these tires, despite the aggressive knobs, seem a bit more rounded than the Anakee Wildes, and maybe that roundness translates to a bit more slip in the deep stuff. It’s not enough to make me want to take them off my bike and replace them with Anakee’s – just something to note really. I’m very happy with the tires and plan on leaving them on my bike until they are toast, and then get another pair!
All in all, I was really impressed with these new tires from Heidenau. They are a non-radial tire that sell for around $200 for the rear, and $150 for the front which is quite a bit cheaper than the Anakee Wildes.
